DataWind in talks with WB, Bihar, Odisha governments for third manufacturing unit

“We are in talks with some Eastern states in India and hoping that by 2017-2018, we will have the third production unit operational,” DataWind chief executive Suneet Singh Tuli told ET, adding that it’s too early to announce the name.Muntazir Abbas | ETTelecom | February 08, 2016, 13:51 IST

NEW DELHI: Canada-based low-cost tablet maker DataWind is in active talks with a few eastern states such as West Bengal and Bihar for setting up its third manufacturing facility at an investment of Rs 100 crores.

“We are in talks with some Eastern states in India and hoping that by 2017-2018, we will have the third production unit operational,” DataWind chief executive Suneet Singh Tuli told ET, adding that it’s too early to announce the name.

“Active discussions with West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand governments to set up our new manufacturing facility are on. The state governments are very aggressive in offering incentives,” Tuli informed.

The company will be spending Rs 100 crores on its third manufacturing facility, and in 2014, has raised nearly Rs 180 crores from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“A new company-owned facility will require Rs 100 crores for the production of complete-knocked-down kits (CKD), including working capital, “ Tuli said, adding that the new unit will have an end-to-end manufacturing capability.

DataWind that ha

​d shot into fame for the government-backed low-cost Aakash tablet launch in 2012 has recently entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Telangana government for setting up production facility, which according to the company will start production within three months, employing at least 500 individuals. Tuli however, said that unlike few manufacturers such as Videocon,

​Datawind ​is not open to contract manufacturing. “New units will not act like a contract manufacturing facility for other vendors as it is not our goal,” he added. The company has partnerships with telecom operators such as Vodafone India, Reliance Communications and Telenor India, and has shipped 5 lakh tablet PC devices within first six months of operations of its Amritsar facility, started in July 2015.

DataWind is banking on Narendra Modi’s ambitious Make in India initiative, and said that all the three production units would be well tuned to facilitate Digital India campaign with the delivery of affordable devices.

The Canadian company has also partnered with online retail store Naaptol to offer 4G calling tablets in India and has marketing and sales alliances with India’s e-commerce firms such as Flipkart and Snapdeal.

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